Doctor of Worship Studies Update

Last June I returned from an inspiring week-long intensive course called The Renewal of Sunday Worship: Music and the Arts. It was co-taught by a church musician and a director of drama. I was energized again by the teaching, and through the discussions with pastors and worship leaders from every Christian tradition and around the world. Especially exciting to me were the experiences of dramatizing scripture. The Bible, we learned, was originally formed in an oral/aural world, not the world of the printed page. Much of it was intended for public performance, as opposed to the private reading most of us do today. The implications for scripture in Sunday worship are profound. I was amazed at the profound new impact familiar stories had on me when they were dramatized as part of worship. My plan is to gather a group together who will present scripture stories in worship, once during the fall, and then ongoing after that. My prayer is that the congregation will be moved as I was by this new experience of scripture. Talk to me if you’re interested in learning more!